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The Wehrmacht (literally defence force or means/power of resistance) was the name
of the armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945.
(In Nazi Germany the term
"Wehrmacht" was not only used for the German military forces. The military forces of other nations were also
addressed as "Wehrmacht". For instance "Englische Wehrmacht" meant all English forces.)
In 1935, with the re-institution of conscription in Germany, the "Wehrmacht" became the official term for the German
armed forces, previously known as the Reichswehr and
today called the Bundeswehr.
The Wehrmacht was organised into:
The Commander-in-Chief was the German Chancellor(a position
Adolf Hitler had gained 1933). In 1938, after the Blomberg-Fritsch-Krise the
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) under Wilhelm Keitel was formed, intended to serve
as military staff for the Chancellor.
Any soldier in the Wehrmacht had to swear "unconditional loyality" to the "Führer und Reichskanzler" Adolf Hitler.
- Abwehr -- Military Intelligence
- Oberbefehlshaber West (Commander of the German forces in the West, i.e. France)
The different branches of the Wehrmacht had different command organisations: OKH for the
army, OKM for the Navy and OKL for the Air Force.
Its actions were presented with a lot of beautiful photos in the magazine "Signal".
See also
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